Music Review: Icona Pop "Just Another Night"

Icona Pop

Just Another Night

Album: This Is…Icona Pop

Year: 2014

        Aino Jawo distracts herself from her loneliness by partying in the sufficient  “Just Another Night.”

          Lulled drums open the single, setting a fogged tone. Jawo laughs uproariously as she holds onto the wall. Then, she holds her hand to her mouth and points to a sign hanging on the window of a bar. “Adam’s Big Eats” and she looks at it for the longest time, trying to will her ex Andy to materialize. While her friend grabs her shoulder, she keeps her head turned on the sign and looks for it again as she puts her into the car. Pulling onto the freeway, she figures he’s at one of the bars in the city, in the arms of another girl. Or she thinks he might be depressed like her, numbing the pain with as much alcohol as she can stomach. (“Stepping on the cracks in the pavement/Another night of being wasted/Staring at your name/Staring at your name/I think you’re hanging out somewhere downtown/I wonder who you’re dancing with now/Are you doing the same?/Are you doing the same?”)

In the pre-chorus, Caroline Hjelt dreams of him making love to her. She touches his chest and he nuzzles her neck. She blinks, opening her eyes and notices that it’s now 4:27 am. Before, it was 4:19 am and then 3:30 am. The nights have become meaningless without him. (“Close my eyes and we’re still naked/But then I see that my clock is changing/It’s just another night/On the other side.”)

        In the chorus, they both repeat again that she’s lonely. (“It’s just another night/On the other side/It’s just another night/On the other side/On the other side.”)

          Jawo lights a cigarette and takes a long sip from her flask. Her new friends are in the subway station, just watching the trains by. She’s done with thinking about her future. There’s no point. She’s going to let stuff happen to her and not make any decisions. She’s meandering from bar to bar. However, he seems to be nowhere. He’s living in his apartment, away from her and can’t be found. (“Hiding underground with the cool kids/I just choose to not want to choose things/We’re living different lives/We’re living different lives.”)

In the pre-chorus, Hjelt thinks they will eventually talk. Whether or not he knows she cheated or why is an unanswered question for her. She wants to know why he became distant. She keeps thinking of reasons until her alarm goes off. (“There’s gonna be a way between us/Tearing down our walls of secrets/It’s just another night/On the other side.”)

       The chorus is sung again.

       In the bridge, Hjelt finally runs into him at one of the downtown bars. She sees him recognize her and her heart beats in time with the bass. She remembers a fight they had not so long ago. He said there wasn’t any passion in their relationship. Tonight, she can show him that he was wrong. (“Nothing’s gonna keep us hostage/I don’t want a thing to stop this tonight/Baby oh you think we lost it/Just come to me.”)

           Jawo sings part of one of verses ends the single. (“There’s gonna be a way between us…on the other side.”)

     Hjelt’s and Aino Jawo’s shattered vocals blame themselves and detach from the outside world. They drink to manufacture joy but it’s short-lived. The memories still remain along with a sliver of hope that things could change. Unlike previous singles, they sing individually throwing off their original gimmick. However, without them shouting the lyrics in unison, it only reveals the plain arrangement lurking behind it.

       The aloof “Just Another Night” wallows into similar pop songs, losing its footing in the busy crowd.